Two Living Gifts
by BrookeGreene
Summary: Sara invites Grissom to visit her in San Francisco for a few weeks. She gives him a very, very special Valentine's Day gift. Spoilers for Goodbye & Goodluck. GSR


**Disclaimer: **Would anyone actually believe me if I said I owned all of CSI? No, and I'm not stupid enough to think they would. I've never claimed to own it and I never will unless something magical happens and I get CSI for Christmas one year. Until that day comes, I do not and will not own any of CSI or its characters.

**A/N:** A friend of mine challenged me a while back to write a G/S story for Valentine's Day. This is what I ended up with, with only a little over an hour left of February 14th. Please review and tell me what your honest opinion of it, even a short review, for example "that was good" will be greatly appreciated. I love long reviews, but I don't expect people to write them, so just give me something, anything. Please???

Oh, and this is un-beta'd, so any and all mistakes belong to me, myself, and I.

* * *

The thing about Sara staying with her mother was there wasn't really enough space for a guest. Even though she was greatly welcomed, Laura Sidle's house was small and only meant for one person at a time. She had offered to let Sara stay in her bedroom, but Sara didn't feel comfortable doing that, she was already inconveniencing her enough. Plus, Sara already felt bad about the fact that she hadn't even tried to contact her mom in over 20 years. 

So Sara was spending her nights in a small, twin-size bed in the barely larger "guest room". Alone. At least in Vegas she'd been alone in a king-size bed, and she wasn't always alone. On their days off they were once again able to share a bed.

In San Francisco however, she wasn't plagued by daily nightmares. Unfortunately, on the rare occasion she did wake up in a cold sweat, the man she loved wasn't there to comfort her. She truly hoped that the time spent away from Gil would actually help her in the long run. It was cold and lonely in that tiny bed of hers, with only her mother's fat cat to keep her company. Frankly, it sucked, and she didn't want to suffer through it only to find out it had been a waste of time. It wasn't that Sara didn't love the cat, because she did, but it couldn't replace Gil, nothing ever could.

"Why don't you invite Gil over here for a stay," Laura had asked her earlier, "You know, for Valentine's Day."

"Wouldn't that be weird, having your 36 year old daughter's boyfriend staying in your house?" Sara knew that she herself would feel awkward about sleeping in a bed with him in her mother's house. "Besides, even though I'd love to see him I'm not so sure he'd want to see me."

"If he doesn't want to see you, then he'd be an idiot. From what you have told me about him, he isn't an idiot."

"Thanks Laura," Sara couldn't get into the habit of calling her mother 'mom', "but if I ask him to come and find out he's moved on, I don't think him being an idiot will be much of a comfort."

Now, Sara didn't actually believe that Grissom had moved on from her. That would be very out of character for him, considering that he said she made him happy. But she couldn't be one hundred percent sure that he still loved her, or even that he had loved her in the first place. Sure, he had asked her to marry him, but who knew how much that decision had been thought through?

It wasn't as if they had lost all contact after she left either though. They talked, Sara called him on the phone at least once a week, twice or three times when she wasn't busy. There had been a few weeks where they'd talked every day. That wasn't even counting emails. But when they talked, he didn't say he loved her at the end of every conversation. To be fair, she didn't either, but that was usually because he hung up before she could. Sometimes she didn't even get a chance to say "good-bye" before he hung up.

His reasons for doing this weren't exactly clear, but she had an idea it was self-preservation. Maybe he thought that if he heard her confirm her love for him, he would miss her more. Or something like that. It bothered her because she really wanted to make sure he knew that she _was_ going to come back. She missed Grissom like crazy; she hadn't even missed him this much when he had gone on sabbatical last year, leaving her behind for a month. She really wanted him to come visit her in 'Frisco, but knew if he said 'no', she would be very upset. It wasn't something she particularly wanted to risk.

In the end though, Sara agreed with her mother. There was only one way to find out if he wanted to come for a bit, and that was to ask. For all she knew, Gil might have been having the same thoughts and fears about _her_ having moved on, because she hadn't said anything about wanting to see him. Knowing him and his insecurity about their difference in age, he probably secretly feared she'd left to be with some 25 year old. Hopefully if he did have that fear, the more rational side of his brain was reminding him that she wouldn't call him regularly if that was the case. If Sara was going to cheat on Grissom, which she never would, she would cut all contact with him and claim to have been too busy.

Sara called him in the afternoon at the usual time. That way she could safely assume he'd be home. Usually he answered on the third or fourth ring, so it took her by surprise when he picked up in the middle of the first.

"Sara?" they had caller ID.

"Hi Gil," she said.

"I was actually just about to call you…"

"Oh," that explained the speedy answer. "So how are you?"

"Pretty much the same as yesterday," she had called him the day before, "I'm tired and missing you." He usually said something about being tired each time they talked, but not usually about missing her.

"I miss you too." he probably had no idea how much; "try to get some more sleep tonight, okay?"

"I'll try." Because he'd try anything for her, "But, unless Hank learns how to turn into you, I don't think I'll succeed."

Sara really couldn't remember Gil being so open with her. All of his feelings, and especially those involving her were usually locked up inside of him. Hearing him talk about how much he missed her made her miss him even more than she already had been.

"Doyouwanttocomevisitme?" she blurted as one word.

"Uh, could you repeat that please?"

"I asked, or babbled rather," she laughed, "if you would like to come visit me here for Valentine's Day."

There was a moment of silence. She hoped that it was a good silence and meant he was going to say 'yes'.

"When can I come?" she could hear the smile in his voice, "and how long can I stay for?"

"Well, if I had my way, I'd have you fly here right this minute and have you stay for at least two weeks. Then again, if I had my way, I'd not have to be away from you at all right now."

"We'll see what I can do," he replied, "Since I haven't had a day off for a while, and have been working a lot of overtime, I might be able to get those two weeks. Plus, I still have months of vacation time saved up."

Even as they worked out the details, Sara's mind and heart were racing. She now knew for sure that he really did love her. The fact that he was willing to deal with Ecklie to come visit her in San Francisco was better proof than hearing him say the words. As an added bonus, now she could give him her late, late Christmas/ early Valentine's Day present in person. She was nervous about giving it to him, and hoped he would like it.

"Good luck with Ecklie," Sara didn't know what else to say right then.

"Thanks," Gil said, "Knowing Ecklie as we both do, I'll probably need it."

"You're welcome." It benefited her if he had an easy time asking Ecklie for the time off. "Um… I should probably go now. I have an appointment in a half hour, and it'll probably take me 20 minutes to get there.

"Oh. Okay, what kind of appointment do you have?"

"Doctor." Once she said it she realized that he might worry and added; "Just a check up, you know, to make sure nothing's wrong."

"Have you been feeling sick lately?" he would worry no matter how much she reassured him.

"No, every now and then I feel a little nauseous, but that isn't really a new development. I've always had those moments, and there are was never anything wrong with me."

"I'll call you tomorrow, or whenever my time off is approved. Will that be okay with you?"

"Yes, but call me tomorrow anyway. I always enjoy talking to you." And she always slept better at night when she had talked to him earlier that day.

"Bye Sara," he sounded reluctant to let her go. She understood the feeling well. "I'll call you when I wake up after work tomorrow."

Bye Gil, I l-" he had already hung up.

What the hell? Why did he have to keep doing that? She decided to speak to him about it when he came to San Francisco. That way, there would be no phone to hang up.

* * *

Laura was glad to hear that she had been right, and Sara's lover wasn't an idiot. She looked forward to meeting the man who made her daughter so happy. To be completely honest, after all she and her now dead husband had put Sara through as a child, it was more than a little surprising that she still wanted to risk getting married and finding out that her new husband was a real asshole. Sara had actually admitted that marriage wasn't something she had ever seen in her personal future prior to meeting Gil. 

Laura had been looking forward to meeting this miracle worker ever since first hearing about him. For some reason Sara refused to share a picture of him. She secretly suspected that this was because they were dog-eared and crinkled from being taken out of their frames and looked at so often. Laura didn't go into the guest room anymore, out of respect for her daughter's privacy, but she had glanced in once when the door was left open. There were about five picture frames on the bedside table and she figured there were more on the dresser. Not that she had any evidence to back up her theory.

Back in Vegas, pictures were framed and set up all around the house. Most were photos of Sara by herself, but the few that he had of them together were also framed. Any and every photo that had Sara in it was now displayed in the bed room, living room or Grissom's office. Since she had rarely ever let him take pictures of her, the ones he did have were very precious. There was one he'd secretly taken of her sleeping on their bed, wearing only an oversized shirt (most likely his) that held a special spot on his nightstand.

Grissom hoped to take more pictures of Sara when he went to see her in San Francisco and was planning to take his good camera. He was very happy that she wanted to see him, but had no idea how he was possibly going to leave when it was time.

Another thing he didn't know was how to go about asking Ecklie for the time off. Since Ecklie had never particularly liked Sara, or Grissom himself for that matter, it wasn't going to be easy. It would probably be best to just bite the bullet and directly ask for a couple of weeks off work. He planned to go to Ecklie's office at the end of his next shift.

"Hello Grissom," Ecklie greeted him coldly, "What brings you here on this fine day, need something from me?"

"Yes. I need some time off." Gil didn't bother with "hello", it wouldn't make any difference.

"When?"

Well… I don't know exactly, but soon, hopefully between now and the 14th of February."

"And how long are you planning to be gone for?" It was somewhat obvious to Conrad as to what (or who) Grissom would be doing while he was away. No doubt it would be Sara Sidle.

"We…" he stopped himself from finishing the sentence. At this point, it was better if Ecklie thought he just wanted a break, "I was thinking two to three weeks would be nice, but I could live with just one week."

"You're going to see Sidle, aren't you?"

"I don't think that my reason for wanting time off is pertinent right now," Grissom replied calmly, "But if you really feel the need to know, yes I am going to visit Sara. I'm sure she would appreciate you calling her by her given name." Truthfully, Sara probably wouldn't care. He had only said that because the tone of Ecklie's voice when he called her 'Sidle' really irked him. Ecklie had never exactly been friendly towards her, but since she'd left he didn't seem to care about being at all polite.

"I can't promise anything," he warned, "about your time off or calling her Sara. I'll try to get you the time off to go see her, but a lot of people want Valentine's Day off work."

"Since I haven't had a day off in two and a half months, I think I deserve some time now. I'm sure you'll be able to work something out, and if you can't, I'll go a step up in the chain of command. To someone without a personal vendetta against me."

He hated to threaten Ecklie but… oh, who was he kidding? He loved threatening that shiny little head! It wasn't something he did on a regular basis, Grissom wasn't really a threatening type of man, but he had enjoyed it this time.

"I _said_ I can't promise anything. I'll try to help you, but on such short notice… two weeks is a long time."

"It isn't two weeks," Gil informed him, "It's for as long as I can get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ecklie asked angrily, "How do I get you time off for 'as long as you can get'?"

Grissom sighed. He hated having to go through people like Ecklie just to be able to see his fiancée. He hoped she was still his fiancée anyway.

"You don't. You just try to get me as much time as possible and book me for that amount."

"Is there a maximum number of days that I'm supposed to get less than, or is it completely unlimited?"

Grissom hesitated; he wasn't sure how to answer that. Sara had said 'at least two weeks', but she hadn't said if there was a point where his visit would become too long. He decided to just assume there wasn't one, and ask when he called her later that day.

"No, there isn't a maximum." He finally replied.

"Fine," Ecklie was clearly exasperated with the man standing before him, "And since I feel sorry for you because your girlfriend left, I'll actually try my best."

"Thank you."

Ecklie waved a dismissing hand and Gil happily walked out of the large office. It was time to go home and walk Hank, a task that was much more enjoyable when Sara was there with him. But that was true for almost everything, life in general was just better with Sara.

Grissom had trouble getting to sleep that night. Knowing that the sooner he got to sleep, the sooner he could wake up and call Sara hindered more that it helped. Plus, he couldn't stop thinking about seeing Sara again; he must have glanced at his prized picture at least 10 times. When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were filled with the image of Sara sleeping beside him.

It all seemed so real in the dream. She was resting beside him in the same blue shirt as in the picture, the top three buttons undone so that only the very tops of her breasts were exposed. Though he couldn't see anything higher than mid-thigh, he knew she wasn't wearing anything under. He was stroking her exposed skin, tracing letters and pictures on her upper chest and bare legs, all without waking her. It felt like heaven, this dream, and when he woke he almost cried at the intense sense of loss that hit him like a brick. He hadn't been that close to shedding tears since they found her in the desert, barely alive. What stopped those tears from spilling over was that he knew he would be talking to her soon, he could phone her.

"Hello," a female voice answered on the third ring. It wasn't Sara; he guessed it to be her mother but couldn't be sure.

"Hello," Gil said, hoping she couldn't tell he was surprised to hear his voice, "Is Sara available to talk?" Asking that made him feel like a 16 year old, calling his teenage girlfriend.

"I think she just got out of the shower," the mystery woman replied, "Would this be Gil I'm speaking to?"

So Sara _had_ told her mother about him. He wondered what she thought about her daughter's boyfriend coming to stay in her house. "Yes, I'm Gil."

"Hello Gil, as you've probably already guessed, I'm Sara's mother, Laura."

"I thought as much," Grissom didn't want to be rude but he really didn't feel like talking to her. He just wanted her daughter.

She must have sensed this somehow, because next she was saying; "Well, I'll go get your Sara now then. I look forward to meeting you Gil."

"Thank you. I look forward to meeting you too." It wasn't a lie, he was curious to see how similar she was to her daughter.

The next thing he heard was a very enthused, very familiar "Hi!"

"Hi," he replied much more calmly.

"So you talked to my mom a bit?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, just for a few minute though, we didn't exactly have a long conversation. She seems nice though."

"Good, I'm glad you thought so," Sara was still a little nervous about how Laura and Gil would take to each other.

"Does she know I'm… older?" he asked, not sure himself what answer he was hoping for.

"No…"

"Oh." he didn't know whether or not that was a bad thing. If she knew and didn't approve, she might not let him stay in her house. But if she didn't know and didn't approve, then he might get there and end up with nowhere to stay.

"It never really came up, and I didn't think it was very necessary to tell her. If I don't care, I'm pretty sure my mother won't either."

"She shouldn't, but Sara… parents are very protective of their children." He said, knowing it was something she knew, "She might think you're being taken advantage of by an old man."

"Gilbert," she usually called him that when she was either slightly peeved or very happy with him, "A 15 year age difference doesn't exactly make you a cradle robbing pervert. And no one thinks you're old, at least not that I know of. I know I certainly don't. I'm fairly certain that as long as you continue to love me and treat me well, Laura won't give a hoot about your age. Since I've assured her that both of those things are true, we don't have a problem here. Okay?"

"Okay," he did feel better, "So you do know that I love you?"

"Yes, I know. Just like you know that I love you too…?"

"Well," he replied, "I knew before, but I never really believed it until you invited me to come stay…"

"Oh Gilbert," this time he could hear the smile in her voice, "whatever am I going to do with you?"

"Something fun I hope," he teased, "Maybe you could give me a kiss?"

"When I see you I'll be doing plenty of that," her voice was husky and sent shivers up his spine, "Speaking of seeing you," her voice was back to normal, "do you know yet when that will be?"

"No, Ecklie said he'd "try" to get me time off."

"Oh," Sara said, "well that doesn't sound very promising…"

"It doesn't," Grissom agreed, "He asked me if there was a maximum to the number of days I wanted off. Is there?"

"I don't know. You can stay for as long as you like, so I suppose that's the maximum."

"Can I stay forever?" he asked softly, knowing it would be the only amount of time that could ever be long enough.

"I'm not going to be staying with my mom forever," Sara too softened her voice a tad, "So I guess the answer is no. You do know that I _am_ going to come back, don't you?"

"I think I knew that. I know I didn't think you were going to be at your mom's for the rest of your life."

"I think I'd probably go crazy here," she was only half-serious, "Without you… and Hank of course. Besides, I miss our bed; the one I sleep in here is friggen miniscule!"

"Is this the same bed I'll be sleeping in?" Grissom asked, "Or am I stuck on the couch?" He was hoping it would be the former; he wanted very much to sleep with Sara again.

"Well, you'll have to make that choice yourself." She told him, "Of course, I prefer if you decide to share my tiny bed, but if you don't want to or if that would make you uncomfortable, you can sleep on the couch in the living room."

"I think I'll pick the tiny bed. At least it will have you in it." And that was the only thing that mattered to him.

"Good. Knowing you were in the house, but not beside me would make sleep an all but impossible feat."

"It would," Grissom agreed, "And about Hank, am I bringing him with me on a plane?"

"I guess you are," Sara hadn't really thought about it, "We can't very well leave him at the sitter's for two weeks."

"Yeah…" he didn't like the thought of the large boxer down in the luggage compartment either though. He had heard horror stories about pets getting tossed around and found dead in their cages. He supposed he could drive to San Francisco, but that didn't sound like a very fun thing to do alone.

"Or you could drive up here," Sara said his exact thought, "then he won't have to be in a cage all that time."

"That's what I was thinking, but I kind of doubt he would enjoy being stuck in a car for nine hours. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't either. And I wouldn't want to drive when I'm in a rush to see you."

Sara made a sound of agreement. So they were stuck, he didn't want to bring Hank on a plane, and he didn't want to drive to San Fran, he couldn't think of any other options.

"Maybe you could get Catherine or Jim to take him…" Sara suggested, not really believing either of the two would want to take care of a 98 pound dog for two to three weeks.

"I can ask them," he said, "But I don't think they'll agree to it. Besides, Hank misses you too, and he'll be mad if he finds out I went to visit you without him."

Gil could hear Sara trying to stifle her laughter in the background. He knew he sounded stupid, talking about his dog as if it was a person, but that was how he sometimes thought of Hank. If the dog was capable of missing someone then he was capable of anger. That was what Gil thought anyway.

"Just make sure no one tells him where you went then." She was openly laughing now, "He can't be mad if he doesn't know."

"Oh, he'll know, he'll smell you on me."

"Well now you're just trying to make me laugh," it was working, too.

"Yes, I am." He admitted, "I love your laugh, so I try to get you to produce it every chance I get."

"You're so cute when you get like this." She told him cheerfully, "I really wish I was there so I could kiss you."

He was damned if that didn't put a damper on the conversation. Bringing up the distance between them was always a good way to kill his good mood.

"I wish you were here too."

There was a depressingly long silence. Neither had anything to say that would cheer up the other. Grissom decided it was probably better to just end the conversation before it went further downhill.

"I'm going to go take a shower now," he said, "When I called I had just woken up so I also need to walk Hank."

"All right," she understood that he didn't have all day to chat, "tell him I said 'hi'."

"I will."

"Bye Gil, I love you." She got the chance to say it this time.

"I love you too, and I miss you."

"With every beat of my heart." Sara smiled sadly, remembering the first time she had said that to him, in a letter.

"... bye." He gently put the phone back in its cradle.

Three days had passed since Sara and Grissom had last spoken. Sara was hoping for an update but since their last conversation had ended awkwardly, she was afraid to phone him. She was sitting on her bed, contemplating the idea of sucking it up and calling him when the phone rang. Her arm lunged out of its own accord to grab it.

It was Gil and she had to stop herself from cheering when he told her the news. Ecklie had apparently turned over a new leaf and was giving Grissom three and a half weeks of paid leave. And Catherine had agreed to take care of Hank.

"How on earth did you maneuver that?!" Sara exclaimed when he told her, "I really can't see Catherine with such a big dog. For some reason I've always thought of her as more of a lapdog kind of woman."

"She does," Grissom agreed, "but Lindsey wants a golden retriever, so Catherine is trying to show her how hard it will be to take care of a big dog."

"Ah," she wished Catherine good luck, Hank was a sweet dog and was unlikely to discourage Lindsey from getting one herself. Sara predicted that Lindsey's desire for a dog would be strengthened by the end of the three weeks.

They continued to talk for a while, both of them finding the sound of the other's voice comforting. Sometimes there was a lull in the conversation where they would sit silently, just listening to each other breathe. Somehow they managed to communicate more during these silences than they did when they were deep in a discussion.

Around the second hour of their marathon phone call, Sara figured that her mother might appreciate having her phone back. She had never been gladder that home phones were not charged by the minute, as cell phones were.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Gil said unexpectedly when she told him she had to go.

"Wait, what?" she was confused as to how she was possibly going to see him the next day when he was in Las Vegas.

"Didn't I tell you I'm coming tomorrow?" when she didn't reply he assumed the answer was no, "I thought I told you… I'm taking an early morning flight, my work break starts tonight."

"However did you get Ecklie to agree to that?" Sara asked, pleasantly surprised, "Did you somehow hypnotize him?"

"Apparently he feels sorry for me."

That was one of the most ridiculous things Sara had ever heard. "Ecklie… feeling sorry for _you_, his arch-enemy." She burst out laughing, "Why does he uh, feel "sorry" for you?"

"Because, and I quote, "my girlfriend left me." Grissom told her.

"Oh. I see…" that made sense then, "Do other people… feel sorry for you?" they hadn't really talked about it much.

"I think so," he replied, "Jim and Nick keep trying to get me to go out for a drink with them. I told them not to worry about me, that I'm doing fine, but they keep on asking anyway. They're very persistent.

"Why don't you just go with them?" Sara worried about him too and would feel better if she knew he wasn't alone.

"They'll get all 'man-to-man' on me," Grissom said, "and expect me to talk about you."

"So?" Sara knew he was a private person but it wouldn't hurt him to share his feelings every so often, "What's so bad about that?"

"I'm not ready to talk about you with anyone other than you."

"Oh…" there was a knock on her bedroom door, "Hang on a sec Gil, I think Laura wants to talk to me for a minute." She put her hand over the receiver, "Come in."

The door slowly opened, revealing her mother. "I'm sorry to interrupt you," she said, "especially when you're talking to Gil, but I really need to call my friend Nancy back, I was supposed to over an hour ago."

"I'm sorry," Sara apologized, "I'll finish this up now."

When Laura turned to leave, she put the phone back up to her right ear.

"Okay, I'm back," she announced, "but I have to go, Laura needs the phone."

Gil expressed his sorrow for her parting and asked for her address. Once he had it all written down, they exchanged "I love you"s and "I'll see you soon"s and hung up the phone.

The next few hours passed excrutiatingly slowly for Sara. The anticipation of seeing her lover was bubbling up inside of her, making concentrating on anything unfeasible. Even watching mindless television wasn't enough to make her tired. She just wanted to get to sleep so that the time would pass more quickly and she would see Gil sooner.

Somehow she drifted off around one a.m. reading a very dull book in bed. The next thing she knew, it was five o'clock and Grissom was going to be there in two hours. Four hours of sleep wasn't exactly enough, but now that she was awake, there was no going back.

She slipped off the bed and stood up to go to the bathroom, but was hit by a wave of nausea. She practically had to run to make it to the toilet in time, before her stomach contents were spewed into the porcelain bowl. Crap. It was just her luck, being sick on the day Gil came to visit.

* * *

The plane made a nice, smooth landing on the San Francisco airport runway. It was a little bit earlier than planned, which suited Gil, he was so anxious to see Sara, to kiss her and hold her. The best part was knowing that, for the next three and a half weeks, he was going to be waking up with Sara wrapped around him. It was going to be really great. 

He got off the plane and almost immediately found his luggage at the carousel. Everything seemed to be working in his favour. First with Sara inviting him, then Ecklie not being an asshole, and now he was having an easy time at the airport! Would great wonders never cease… For once there was even a taxi available; he didn't have to wait for three hours. Maybe that was because (for once) he looked and acted like a man who wasn't willing to wait.

When the taxi pulled up at the address Sara had given him the previous night, Grissom could easily see why the guest bedroom might be tiny. The house was two stories high, but each floor was so small that it would have much more made sense to just have one larger floor. Only one of the upstairs lights was on, he hoped Sara was already awake, since he couldn't tell which window corresponded with her bedroom.

The woman who answered the door looked like an elderly version of Sara, with a few differences. She was a few inches shorter, her eyes were blue and her skin was a shade or two darker. But other than that, she looked the way he expected Sara to in about 30 years.

"You must be Gil," the woman said, opening the door wider so that he could step in beside her, "I'm Laura Sidle, Sara's mother. She held out her hand and Grissom shook it.

"Gil Grissom," he introduced himself, "I'm sorry to be so impatient, but do you happen to know where Sara is?"

Laura pointed to the stairs, "I think she must be either sleeping or in the bathroom. She hasn't been down here at all yet today."

Grissom thanked her and made his way towards the staircase. As he neared the top, he could hear sounds coming from the bathroom, but couldn't quite identify them. Then when he reached the landing and started following the noise, it became very clear. It was the sound of someone retching; Sara was puking her guts out in the bathroom. He opened the bathroom door and there she was, leaning over the toilet. Her hair was sliding dangerously close to the line of fire (vomit) so Gil knelt behind her and held it back.

She finished puking about 15 minutes later and really registered for the first time that there was someone behind her. She hoped to god it wasn't Gil already, but from the way he was pressed against her, she knew it must be him. He released her hair from his grasp, freeing his arms to wrap around her waist. Sara sighed and wiped her mouth on a waiting damp cloth before leaning into his warm embrace.

"I thought you said you were feeling fine," Gil said curiously, "and that you weren't sick?"

"I'm not," she replied, succeeding only in confusing him further. Sure, she would sometimes hide mild discomfort and lie about being okay, but not when he had walked in on her throwing up. She'd been puking for at least 15 minutes, and Grissom suspected it had been much longer. Near the end, all she had been producing was dry hacking and spitting.

"How can you not be sick?" Grissom asked incredulously, "I just saw you being sick!"

Sara didn't really think it was the best time to tell him about it. She was sweaty, smelly and still a little bit nauseous. The one thing she felt like doing at the moment was taking a nice hot shower. Normally "long" would be in there too but because Gil was there it had been cut from the list.

"I…" she turned around in the circle of his arms, looking up into his gorgeous blue eyes, "I need to get cleaned up… then we really should talk…"

"All right," he agreed, "should I wait in your room then?"

"Sure, that would be a good place."

They went their separate ways; him to her bedroom and her into the shower. Both wished the other was with them. Grissom thought the room looked rather cold and lonely without Sara and Sara just wanted to be with him. Even if she was washing the sick sweat off of her body.

Gil plopped down on the bed and slid off his shoes. He had forgotten them off earlier, when he first came in the door, probably because his mind had been so occupied with Sara-related thoughts. The bed, for all its smallness was actually quite comfortable, soft but firm. Somehow he found himself stripping down to his boxers and climbing under the covers, hoping Sara wouldn't mind if he took a short nap. For the last two and a half months he'd had a hard time sleeping and for some reason, knowing Sara was in the next room made it easier, not harder like they'd both thought. He quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

Sara came out of the shower to find Gil sleeping on her bed. (Well, _their_ bed for the next three ½ weeks.) She couldn't blame him for falling asleep, she was very tired as well and the bed did look inviting, especially with Gil sleeping in it. It was impossible to resist, she was drawn to the bed as if someone was physically pulling her along. She grabbed the shirt he had discarded on the floor and slipped it on over only a pair of panties. Then got into the already warm bed and rested and arm on top of the sleeping body, pressing her closer. It was squishy; the bed wasn't really made for two people. But it also felt like paradise.

Sara woke up in the bed a few hours later and reached an arm out to Gil, feeling cold sheets instead. It was the same thing she had been doing for the past two ½ months, but this time was different. She knew that when she went to sleep, he was right there beside her, so he should have been there. Staying relatively, she got up (not bothering to put on any more clothes) and looked for him. It didn't take long. He was reading a book on the couch in the next room, the study.

As soon as Gil saw her in the doorway wearing just his shirt, he closed and stood up. Sara did a sort of flying leap and flung her arms tightly around him.

"Why did you leave the bed?" she whispered into his ear, feeling a strange need to be quiet.

"I couldn't get back to sleep," he whispered back, "and I didn't want to wake you up, you were sleeping so peacefully."

"I'd rather you wake me up than wake up alone," her voice went back to normal but she still clung to Gil.

"I'll remember that," he released her and sat down on the couch again, pulling her down beside him. "Anyway, you said yesterday that we should talk…"

"Yeah," she grabbed his hands, "You see, I'm–uh, I'm kind of…"

"…yes, you're kind of…?"

She placed both of his large hands on her abdomen and looked down, "I'm uh, pregnant." She felt him stiffen and looked back up to see the expression on his face. He was smiling, grinning actually. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Valentine's Day is in six days Sara; it's a little early to be saying that."

"Well, I couldn't exactly wait until then to tell you." She said, "But you're actually happy that I'm pregnant?"

"Yes," his grin grew even wider, "how could I not be? The woman I love is having my baby!"

She was smiling now too, able to get past the 'What is he going to say/ think?' to how great it would be to have a baby around. Gil rubbed her growing stomach, there was only a bit of a bump and it wasn't really visible, but you could feel it if you knew it was there.

He kissed her sweetly on the mouth, letting his lips linger on hers for a long moment. "Have you told your mother yet?" he asked her, then kissed her again.

"About the baby?" he nodded to indicate that that was indeed what he had meant, "Yes. I wanted to wait until after I told you, but I took too long and couldn't hold it in any longer. I'm sorry."

She leaned back into him and wiggled around a bit so that she could lie on top of him, the back of her head resting on his chest. His hands were still on her slightly swollen stomach, caressing bare skin through a space between buttons. The fat house cat came into the room, meowed and jumped up onto the cuddling couple.

"Can we get a cat?" Sara asked, "I know we already have a dog, but I've always loved cats too and have never gotten around to getting one."

"Uh…" he wasn't sure what to say to that. He didn't want to say 'no' to her, but they had a big dog that probably wouldn't get along very well with a cat or kitten. Besides, he was pretty set with Hank and didn't particularly like cats. The feeling was mutual, cats hated him. "So if we get a cat, then in six months we'll have a dog, a baby _and_ a cat?"

"More like five and a half months but yeah, we would."

"How far along are you?" he had just assumed it was something like three months.

"Three months and three weeks. Before I left I thought I was late because I was just really stressed, then after a few weeks here I decided to take a home pregnancy test. It was positive, and the doctor confirmed that I was pregnant. I wanted to tell you earlier, but it didn't seem like a good thing to do over the phone."

"Probably not," Gil decided, "and it would have made me want to see you even more."

"And that just wouldn't have done." Sara joked, "We'll have to make up for the time we've lost…"

There was a seductive tone to her voice that left no doubt as to what she meant. "Let's go back to bed." Gil suggested, "So we can make up for that time…"

* * *

_**February 14, 2008**_

Sara didn't know if Grissom had anything planned for their second Valentine's Day together, but she hoped if he did, it wouldn't require much energy. She had gotten plenty of sleep the night before, but it still wasn't enough for her. Her and Gil's 'activities' that morning hadn't exactly helped either; they'd just made her sleepier.

She was taking a shower (and trying not to fall asleep) around four o'clock when Gil came in and joined her.

"Hey," she greeted him, "what's up?"

"Well… I need you to leave the house for an hour or so, do you think you could do that for me?" he asked, part of him feeling guilty for asking her to leave her own mother's house.

"I guess I could go buy you a Valentine's present or something." She rinsed the remaining soap off her body and stepped out, leaving Gil alone in the hot spray. "  
Why, are you plotting something?"

"Don't get me anything," he told her, purposely ignoring her question, "you gave me your present by asking me to come and stay here."

She opened the closet and took out a fluffy red towel, "Yeah, but I wanted you to, and it didn't exactly cost me anything."

"I'll tell you what;" he put his head under the jet of water to, rinsing the shampoo out of his hair, "your present to me can be not getting me anything, and letting me spoil you today."

"All right," she not-so-reluctantly agreed, thinking it couldn't hurt for just one day "but if I do this, the next time you have a migraine, you have to let me take care of you. I don't care if it hurts your male pride; I know I can help you feel better."

Gil turned off the water and climbed out of the tub, stepping over the rim onto the bathmat. Sara had a towel waiting for him already, a nice deep blue one. Once he had dried off and had time to consider her proposal, he gave her an answer.

"Okay, it's a deal. Stay out for… I don't know… an hour and a half to be safe I guess. Will that be okay for you, to stay out that long?"

"It'll be fine." She replied, and winked. "I'm quite looking forward to coming back and seeing what you were doing."

"I think you'll be very pleased," he said.

"We'll just see about that." Sara said saucily, walking out of the bathroom. She got dressed quickly in casual, but nice clothing. She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do for an hour and a half, she supposed she could go to a library and read, or take her laptop and email a few Las Vegas friends to see how they were doing. Yeah, she decided the latter was probably the better idea. Maybe she could even call Catherine to check up on Hank.

Once she got started catching up on her correspondence, time just flew right by. She hadn't even finished her email to Nick when the clock read 5:30, and it was time to go home. Or temporary home anyway, Grissom being there was what made it a home for Sara.

The door was unlocked when she got there, something she found a bit disconcerting, knowing that Gil was the type that usually kept the door locked at all times. They had both seen too many horrible tragedies come from things as simple as someone forgetting to lock the door after they came home from work. You never knew when a passing thief could decide to come in, stealing your valuable possessions and the life of a loved one. Some might call it paranoia, but Sara preferred to call it being cautious.

The living room was dark; the only light was half a dozen lit candles. She felt her face twist up in a smile at how sweet Gil could be when he tried; it was very cliché, but sweet. She wondered how he had gotten Laura to leave her own house, and where she could have gone. Maybe to the house of that Nancy she sometimes mentioned.

Gil came out from what seemed like the kitchen, but she couldn't be completely sure, as there really wasn't enough light. He wasn't alone either; in his arms was an adorable, tiny calico kitten that looked almost too young to be away from its mother.

"Aw…" Sara said, "You got me a kitten for Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah, I did. I didn't know what to get you, but I thought I should at least do something small, and then when you said you wanted a cat… well, I decided to get you one as a gift."

He came closer and handed her the small bundle of fur. She could almost hold it by cupping her hands together, but it was a little bit too big. Still, it was one of the cutest kittens she had ever seen, with its big blue eyes and tiny little paws.

"How old is he? Or is it a she…?" the kitten started to squirm so Sara lay it down in a basket that was on the floor, lined with a little blanket.

"She's a she." Gil told her, "And she's about eight weeks old, in case you were wondering. I got her from the ASPCA; the people there assured me that she's healthy and that eight weeks is a standard age for kittens to leave their mothers."

"She was at a shelter? Who in their right mind would abandon this little baby?" She knew that she could never leave an animal at a shelter unless it was actually dangerous.

"I can't think of anyone who could." He replied, "I think they must have been crazy. I don't like cats, but this one has mysteriously stolen my heart." He smiled shyly, "She's a little like you that way."

"Thank you so much Gil!" she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lovingly, "This has to be one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me."

He wanted to say she was welcome, and that making her happy made him happy, but she had kissed him again and his mouth was already engaged. Eventually they would have to come up for air, he would say it then.

Instead, what ended up coming out was "Marry me." It wasn't a question.

"I already said yes," she was grinning so widely now, it felt like her face was going to break, "and I have the same answer now."

His lips crashed down on hers, and they stumbled towards the stairs, almost tripping over the first step. They were halfway up the stairs when Sara suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to cancel the appointment with her counselor, Dr. Lee.

"Shit," she said when she broke apart, "I have to make a phone call."

She grabbed Gil's hand and pulled him the rest of the way up the staircase, into their bedroom.

"Hi," the receptionist knew her voice, she had called so many times, "This is Sara Sidle, and I need to cancel my appointment tomorrow because my…" she didn't know what she should call Gil, so she settled with, "good friend is in town." That wasn't really an accurate role for him, but it would do, "he's only here for a few weeks and I'd like to spend as much time with him as possible. Yes, I know I should have called earlier, I'm sorry, I forgot. Okay… thank you, bye."

She hung the phone up and turned back to Gil, who was waiting patiently on her bed, "Now that that's dealt with, where were we?"

He answered by pulling her down beside him on the bed and kissing her passionately.

Later, lying on the bed, cuddling, Sara felt that she needed to clarify something. "You know…" she said to Gil quietly, "you aren't just my good friend."

He gave her a look, "If I was, I don't think we would have done what we just did."

Sara laughed, "That is true. I just wanted to make sure you knew, I'm pretty sure you heard me on the phone earlier."

"I did hear you, but I didn't think that's all I am to you. Just out of curiosity, what exactly am I then?"

"You're…" so many things, she thought, "my fiancé, my friend, my lover…" she paused and lightly squeezed the hand she was holding, "my everything."


End file.
